Devious retribution
by MoonyPaad
Summary: Following the path of revenge, a tenacious girl ends up crossing ways with a turian. But having mutual goals is not enough to make things simple.
1. Chapter 1

"Tiberius!" She screamed when she saw a bullet hit her partner directly. She ran toward where he fell and felt relieved to see it was only his leg that was injured. That would definitely make things harder, but at least it wasn't a deadly wound. Damn Nemesis. She applied medigel to her partner's injured leg.

"I'm fine, Katlyn" Said the turian quickly when he noticed the concern on the woman's face.

"He's not here." Tiberius surmised. "Let's get the hell out before they start getting reinforcements."

Katlyn nodded in response and they started retreating silently, but it was hard to go unnoticed when the enemy soldiers ran fearlessly through the facility. The change in the enemy's attitude was extremely obvious and they confirmed Katlyn's every suspicion when they tried to catch a Cerberus's soldier to get information about the location of the person they were trying to find. Interrogating them was useless, they were more like corpses than human beings now. Blue skin, hollowed eyes. It was repulsive.

Katlyn and Tiberius finally made it to the shuttle. Both of them were exhausted and felt somehow defeated, but at least they had made it out alive to fight another day. Once they made it to the Citadel, they avoided the most crowded places as usual and arrived at the little apartment they had been renting for that week. They never stayed in the same place for more than a few days, but this time they felt especially comfortable in that apartment. They were beginning to feel the effects of being on the run for three years and changing location three times a week, but they knew there was no time to complain. They had to keep going.

"We should call the doctor," Katlyn said once they arrived at the apartment, "She can take a look at your leg"

"I need to trade the salvage we got from the facility." Tiberius said, "Besides… I don't wanna bother the doctor anymore. If anybody finds out that she has been helping us…"

"Don't worry. I'll make sure that doesn't happen." Katlyn said with confidence. "And I'm pretty sure that the medical supplies we found will come in handy at the Hospital."

Katlyn could tell by the look on the turian's face that he was still reluctant to receiving outside help, but there was no way she was going to let that wound remain untreated. She didn't give him any more time to think about it and contacted Doctor Michel immediately.

Dr. Michel returned Katlyn's call quickly and she agreed to meet them at their apartment. She took care of the wound efficiently and both of them felt relieved to know it wouldn't cause any permanent disability.

Doctor Michel had been helping them since the first day they started chasing Cerberus, three years ago. She used to have a clinic on the Citadel back then and it was a lot easier for her to receive them at that clinic every time something went wrong on a mission. But now she was the medic in charge at Huerta Memorial Hospital and getting in contact with her was becoming a little more difficult.

"We should get rid of the stuff we found today. It will be dangerous if we stay in this apartment any longer." Said Tiberius once the doctor was gone.

Katlyn sat on the bed next to him and let go a little sigh. Unfortunately, he was right. They had been there for a week and security was starting to get heavier on the Citadel with that whole Reaper invasion thing.

"Yeah, you're right. Let's split up the stuff and sell it on the markets," Katlyn said feeling a little down, "Then we can plan our next destination."

"You don't need to worry about that," He said in a strangely optimistic tone, "I managed to get another contact inside the Alliance's forces. If they discover a new Cerberus's facility, they will let us know."

Katlyn shot Tiberius a surprised look and then smiled, feeling satisfied with his answer. It was useless to interrogate the soldiers they had killed in the facilities, so knowing that the turian managed to get information from the Alliance again was definitely good news. She felt a surge of energy and she stood up quickly to start organizing their stuff and get moving.

"Let's move, then." Katlyn said in high spirits.

-o-

"He's getting away!" Katlyn screamed while she and Tiberius ran towards the shuttle. The path was filled with Cerberus soldiers trying to prevent their reaching it. Tiberius threw a grenade and killed some of them quickly, an impulsive decision made in the heat of the moment.

Their target was already leaving the facility and just when they were about to get to their transport, it exploded. She stared at it and then looked at the Cerberus bastard who had fired the missile.

"Shit!" Katlyn exclaimed as she took her sniper rifle out and shot the offending enemy soldier between his eyes. The shot was good, but the situation was not improved by much.

"Damn it!" Tiberius angrily screamed. He started fighting the soldiers who still defended the facility. He was angry and disappointed. How could he have allowed his target to escape? They had been so close this time.

Katlyn and Tiberius hoped that at some point the facility would finally start running out of Cerberus soldiers to defend it. The woman was out of breath and she was almost out of ammo. More soldiers would definitely be a bad prospect for them, especially when their only escape route was the shuttle that Cerberus took down. Katlyn and Tiberius had agreed to stop attacking Cerberus facilities to look for information some time ago, but they decided to try one last time because they honestly believed that they had him that time. It was frustrating.

When Katlyn and Tiberius were certain that there were no enemies left, they stood on the landing pad momentarily, trying to catch their breath. Katlyn was the first to recover and attempt to think rationally again.

"We need to find a way to leave." She said, but the turian didn't seem like he was paying attention.

He had that angry look, probably lost in his thoughts. Katlyn decided to give him a minute and walked around a little, trying to find an alternative. However just as she was starting to explore, another shuttle arrived.

"Tiberius, move!" She screamed, but there was still no response. She ran to him and grabbed his arm to move him into cover, finally getting a reaction from him. He scoured the landing pad with his eyes and after obviously not seeing as far as he would have liked, he grabbed the woman's sniper rifle to take a look through her scope.

"I think it's the Alliance. Though I have no idea why there is a turian and an asari on the squad." He informed, "We need to get out of here before they notice our presence."

"Sound suspicious" She asked trying to imagine another escape route, "Are you sure they're Alliance? I never heard of them sending another species on their missions."

"It's either that or Cerberus has managed to steal an Alliance vessel somehow." He muttered as he watched the asari pointing out the wreckage of the shuttle Katlyn and Tiberius had arrived on to the woman who looked to be her leader.

"Either way, we need to remain undetected." Katlyn advised.

"It's curious, though. I thought we were the only ones who stole stuff from the Alliance…" Tiberius groused.

"Shh!" Katlyn stage whispered, "One of them is coming."

Katlyn remained silent as Tiberius prepared his weapon. He could clearly see a red-haired human female carefully inspecting the perimeter . Her squad mates were nowhere to be seen now. Maybe the turian could use that chance to secure their freedom. The pseudo-Alliance commander was only a meter away from the crates when Tiberius decided to move. However, just before he could point his weapon at her, shivers went through his spine. He sensed somebody behind him.

"Not so fast!" He heard.

Tiberius could see Katlyn spinning quickly to point her gun directly at the stranger behind them.

"Put your weapons down!" the stranger commanded.

Tiberius was about to speak when the asari pointed her gun at his human friend.

Shit. They were outnumbered.

Tiberius looked at the woman beside him. Her gray eyes stared fiercely at the turian stranger whom she threatened. Her hands held her gun tightly. Tiberius knew she would not hesitate to kill if he gave her a reason. It was likely she would not shoot unless provoked, but Tiberius didn't want to tempt their luck. One false move and they could end up on the ground filled with bullet holes. He lowered Katlyn's sniper rifle slowly and the unknown commander did the same. Her features softened slightly as she regarded the woman and the turian.

"So I take it you're responsible for the house-cleaning." Said the unknown woman when she finally got closer to them. Katlyn turned around when she heard her voice. It was extremely familiar.

"Shepard?" She asked, a suprised grin of recognition brightening Katlyn's face, "I never thought I would see you here!"

Katlyn rose to her feet, all signs of hostility forgotten as she approached the commander. Shepard smiled back and called her squad mates off. Her squad mates, ever-trusting of their commander, lowered their weapons.

"Katlyn Toombs?" Said the commander with an enthusiastic smile, "I almost didn't recognize you. It seems like you finally managed to put some muscle onto that skinny body."

Shepard chuckled as she eyed Katlyn respectfully.

"Yeah, says the one who spent two years dead. Beating the odds, huh? Just like old times!" Katlyn said with a nostalgic smile.

Shepard realized she was talking about that incident on Akuze, but fortunately Tiberius intervened.

"So, Commander Shepard." He said trying to keep up with the conversation, "You work for the Alliance again?"

Katlyn noticed he was speaking with suspicion and so she hurried to interrupt.

"Oh, this is Tiberius Nazadus of the turian military" She introduced, trying to change the direction of the conversation. They had been receiving filtrated information from the Alliance for years, and the news about the human Commander being brought back to life by Cerberus wasn't something he could easily forget.

"I'm not turian military anymore, Toombs" He reminded, but the woman ignored him. She knew that little mention would distract him enough to drop the previous topic.

"This is Dr. T'Soni, and Garrus Vakarian" Said Shepard looking at her squad before talking again, "Toombs is an old friend from when I started my military career"

"I didn't know the Alliance had sent a second team to secure this place" Said Liara looking at the crushed shuttle they arrived on. A clear Alliance symbol was on the top.

"Well… We're not exactly an Alliance team" Explained Katlyn, "We came here on our own"

"I'm pretty sure the Alliance won't be very happy to know that someone has been stealing their resources in the middle of a war" Added this time Garrus, getting a severe look from the other turian.

"The Alliance keeps sending troops to places they can't secure. It's a total waste. We're making a better use of it"

"However, it doesn't seem like it is taking you anywhere in the shape it is now. I have enough room to get you two out of here" Offered the human Commander, turning over to leave, "C'mon, there's plenty of time to talk later".

Katlyn could identify the suspicion in her friend's eyes, but she knew he would go if she decided it. He trusted her enough to follow her judgment. Most of the time.

"Alright." She answered in the end, following the Commander.

When the five of them got back to the pickup point, Shepard called her pilot for extraction. He seemed confused due to the mission ending so soon. In only a few minutes, they were sitting on the transport and heading to the Normandy. It was a little tight with five on board, but they fit just fine.

Toombs looked at Tiberius. His amber eyes were totally fixed on the window, giving the impression of his being completely lost on his thoughts. She noticed, however, by the stiffness of his pallets and his body language that he was totally aware of everything around him.

Katlyn knew him. She was aware of his real thoughts about this entire situation. He didn't trust Shepard and Katlyn couldn't blame him for that. The Commander had been wholly rebuilt by Cerberus after all, and back then even Katlyn had her doubts. But she also knew the Commander and she was now more convinced than ever that the woman in front of her was Shepard. Even after all those years, she had barely changed.

Katlyn stared a few seconds at the white marks on her partner's face, which stood out clearly upon his dark orange colored skin and she couldn't help but recall the first time she met him. It had been under strange circumstances, but even in the middle of gunfire she took a moment to analyze him. She had never seen a color like that in a turian before, so it was noteworthy. Or that's what she used to tell herself, because she almost got shot in that moment for staying out of cover too long.

She smiled at the memory, getting back to reality when she realized they had finally arrived to the ship designated as the Normandy. Things would probably get a little more difficult from now on. Katlyn could tell Shepard had plenty of questions on her mind, and she was pretty sure that Tiberius wouldn't be too happy with the prospect of giving them private information. She would have to choose her words wisely.

"Back so soon, Lola?" Asked a brawny man when they exited the shuttle. His gaze passed to the newcomers.

"Just a little change of plans" Shepard answered, "James, the soldiers with me are Toombs and Nazadus."

She turned to Katlyn, "We're going back to the Citadel. We can drop you there when we arrive."

Toombs nodded.

"Alright. Thank you, Shepard." She answered and the Commander started walking towards the elevator.

"Feel free to look around. Come by my private cabin later if you would like to talk." Shepard said before disappearing into the elevator. Garrus Vakarian moved closer to the human they called James and Liara looked at them.

"Shepard's cabin is on the first floor and the kitchen on the third, in case you're hungry. If you need anything, just talk to the ship's AI, EDI. She will answer any questions you have." Liara said before she and Garrus left in the elevator as well.

Katlyn turned to Tiberius.

"I know you're not happy with this. But Shepard's fine." Katlyn said finally. She sat on a crate on the far side of the room. She was exhausted, they had been running for weeks and neither of them had had a good night of sleep for a long time.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Tiberius said, leaning against the wall. Katlyn could tell he was tired as well but he wouldn't let his guard down for any reason.

"You don't have to like her or her crew. But we could use this opportunity to finally rest for a couple of hours."

He looked at her, unconvinced.

"A little snack, at least? They have a turian, there's gotta be dextro food here!" Katlyn argued.

The turian finally resigned and breathed a little sigh. She wasn't going to let this go and he had learned how persistent she could be.

"Alright, you win." Tiberius relented.

"The kitchen is on the third floor." A synthetic voice intoned, surprising them a little.

"Great, so the AI stalks conversations on this ship too." He responded sarcastically.

"You don't have to be so grumpy. She's just trying to help." Katlyn said smiling a little, teasing the turian as they got in the elevator.

" _She_ is a machine." He said accenting the first and the last words.

It had been some time since Katlyn allowed herself to mock around and it felt somehow relieving. She didn't know what they would get from all this, but she was hoping, for the first time in weeks, that this time things would change for good.


	2. Chapter 2

Eating without hurry and sitting at a table was a welcomed change. The food wasn't the best, but just the fact Katlyn and Tiberius need not worry about someone seeing them was definitely something she appreciated. Katlyn didn't regret anything, though and neither did Tiberius.

They had been fighting Cerberus for almost three years now. Back then things were a lot easier. Cerberus had a lot of soldiers, sure, but at the time they were actually living. They usually retreated after Katlyn and her partner took down most of their human resources and they could always take a captive or two to get more information. Now they had been transformed into some kind of sick Reaper experiment, resembling husks rather than indoctrinated humans.

They didn't fear for their lives, they only advanced to die over and over again, just like a machine would. That was probably what had gone wrong on their last mission. Surprise had always been their deadliest weapon, but it went somehow terribly wrong this time.

"I think just the two of us won't be enough anymore." Katlyn said, staring at her food thoughtfully. The turian looked at her worriedly.

"I'm afraid of what you might have in mind, Kat."

"Well, we need numbers. Let's face it; we almost didn't make it out alive from that last facility."

"We will manage, we always do. We just need to rethink our strategies."

"We're running out of time here, Tiberius!" She said with frustration, "We have been chasing that bastard for three years, taken down more than ten of his facilities and we still have no clue where he's hiding. Now, with all this Reaper activity… I'm not so sure we're going to get to him in time."

"So what do you expect us to do? If we had the Alliance's support or the turian military on our side we wouldn't have to be taking this situation into our own hands!" Tiberius said angrily.

He was aware that his tone was much sharper than he intended, but he couldn't help it, "I'm not giving up now, so pull yourself together or walk away."

She looked at him speechless for a while. She had witnessed that rage in his eyes thousands of times, but she had never been the source of it. She lowered her gaze for a few seconds, trying to keep her emotions together. Keeping her thoughts to herself or running away wasn't her style, but she wasn't sure how to handle a situation like this. Especially because she had no idea it would make her feel hurt.

"I better go talk to Shepard." She said.

She stood and left the table without giving him another look. The turian's mandibles twitched as he calmed down and he felt the guilt little by little. He had always been firm with her when she started to falter; it was a good way to put her on her feet again. But this time he crossed the line. He put a hand on his head, feeling angry with himself.

"So… Tiberius Nazadus. I knew I've heard that name before." Garrus Vakarian said walking up behind the other turian.

Tiberius didn't answer.

"What is it that makes a General end up a fugitive?"

He hadn't noticed another figure enter the kitchen. Of course Tiberius knew about Garrus. He was well known among his people for taking Saren down and then disappearing after Shepard's death. He also knew his father very well. They used to have talks about discipline and the younger turian's inadecuated behavior.

"That's none of your business" He answered bitterly.

"Yeah, probably not." Garrus acknowledged, "But you're in an Alliance ship now. I think they would be interested to know what's been happening to their resources."

Tiberius stood up angrily and walked towards the other turian. He was so frustrated by the latest events that he barely needed a reason to start a fight.

"Is that a threat?" He asked harshly, balling his hands into fists.

However, just when Vakarian was about to answer, they heard another voice.

"Garrus!"

The turian who had been named looked over and saw Liara. He let go a displeased grunt, but he walked away. Nazadus just stood there for a few seconds, wanting to punch someone in the face.

"Don't take him too seriously, he has just been on edge lately." The asari softly spoke as she walked toward their new guest, "What gets reported or not is Shepard's call. He won't disobey her orders."

"It isn't like I would trust her anyway." He said honestly.

But he had to admit that Liara had prevented him from doing something stupid. Picking a fight with a member of the galaxy-renowned Commander's team wouldn't do much to benefit their situation. Especially if Shepard and Katlyn had some kind of bond.

"Thank you." Tiberius said abruptly, leaving the area.

-o-

"So what exactly were you doing at that Cerberus facility?" Asked Shepard to the other woman. They were now sitting on a sofa in the Commander's private quarters.

"I was looking for someone." Katlyn answered, trying not to involve Tiberius in any of the information she gave. "He controls one of Cerberus's branches. His name is Lamont Hogsed. "

"Never heard of him."

"He is a sneaky guy. I've been chasing him for three years. But he knows how to cover his trail." Katlyn allowed. The spoken thought ended with a frustrated growl.

"You had contact with Cerberus once. Did you see any kind of genetic research? Hogsed is obsessed with genetic mutations." Katlyn asked the Commander.

"I'm sorry. If they pursued that research, they made sure I got nowhere near it." Shepard said with a sigh, "I know the Illusive Man is not to be trusted, but back then I didn't have much of a choice. It was that or allow the Collectors to take us all."

Katlyn was aware that the Commander had abandoned Cerberus a long time ago. But hearing those words coming directly out of her mouth gave Katlyn the confirmation she needed.

Shepard had been Katlyn's childhood hero for many years. She was everything she ever aspired to be. And even if Katlyn was now much more realistic than before she couldn't help but allow those feelings to reappear now that she found her again.

"It doesn't matter. I will find him eventually." She said at last with a decided look.

Shepard realized that look was somehow attached to the three-year-old event Katlyn had spoken of before, but she didn't know how much Katlyn knew about it. She didn't want to say anything wrong, but her curiosity was too much to handle.

"Why are you so obsessed with him, Toombs? The Alliance was your whole life and now you're stealing our resources to catch a ghost." Shepard said staring directly into her gray eyes. She could see pain in them, resentment. But neither did her eyes look away.

"You know why I'm doing this, Shepard. I saw the reports. The real ones, not the crap the Alliance made ´official´. Holding that information from me was the first thing they did wrong. The second was not giving me the support I needed to take Cerberus down once and for all. If they had listened to me back then, maybe they wouldn't be messing things up right now."

Katlyn closed her eyes for a second after she finished her remarks. Shepard stared at the ground in silence. Remembering that moment three years ago wasn't exactly pleasant. She felt guilty as hell. She felt like it was almost her fault. Like she could've done something about it.

"I'm sorry, Toombs." Shepard said softly after a moment, "I didn't know he was alive until that day. I swear I saw my whole unit being totally wiped out by that thresher maw. Seeing him standing there on Ontarom, pointing his gun at that Cerberus's scientist… I allowed him to shoot him. I should've subdued him. Maybe I could've gotten help for him. He could've recovered… He didn't have to…"

"It's ok, Shepard. It was his call, not yours." Said Katlyn seriously.

Shepard was the toughest soldier Katlyn knew, but she was aware of how much the incident on Akuze affected her. Not just because of the terrible things Shepard had to do to survive, but also because she had lost every single soldier in her squad that day.

Seeing Corporal Toombs again after so many years must've been crazy. And then, watching him kill himself…

"My brother didn't try to contact me, didn't notify the Alliance. He probably didn't want anyone to know he was still alive. He never intended to get his life back. He just wanted to kill the bastards that experimented on him, destroy Cerberus once and for all so nobody else would have to suffer what he suffered. And I'm going to finish that job for him."

Shepard stared into her old friend's eyes and she knew there was nothing that would change her mind about that. Katlyn was so different now than she was for all the years she spent in the military. She was just a young and naïve girl trying to fit in somewhere in those days, following in her elder brother's footsteps.

They were six years apart and Shepard would never forget how that tiny girl used to follow her lead like she was some kind of god. She was the Lieutenant of her squad back then, sure, but even when she was transferred Katlyn always ran to get support from her when she was in trouble.

She had changed so much since then. Even her eyes, which used to be warm and expressive were now cold and distant. She wasn't sure of how to feel about it, but there was nothing she could do for her.

Except, maybe, giving her support.

"I'm sure you will. Count on me for that." Said the Commander with reassurance, receiving a grateful look from her younger friend. Even though she had changed, the old Katlyn was still there, just beneath the skin.

"ETA 10 minutes, Commander. You better get ready." Joker intoned from the intercom, making both of them stand up with determination.

"Go ahead and I'll meet you at the shuttle bay. I need to talk to my pilot firs.t" Said the red-haired woman and Katlyn obeyed.

That little talk with Shepard left a good sensation inside of her. It was nice to know that even if everything around her was falling apart, there were some things that would stay the same.

Tiberius was standing in the Shuttle Bay when his friend finally arrived. He felt kind of uneasy about her conversation with Shepard, but it wasn't the right moment to bring that up. He couldn't identify the expression on Katlyn's face. He had never dealt with other humans before.

"Are you ready?" She asked picking up her stuff.

"Yeah." He answered trying to avoid looking at her.

He was still feeling guilty, but he sucked at being soft and subtle. Actually, he sucked at relationships in general.

"Hey, Kat, I'm… Sorry." He said with some difficulty.

She stopped what she was doing to look at him like he had just told her he had grown wings. He felt even more uncomfortable with her reaction, but he tried not to show it.

"Oh, it's fine." She said after a beat.

An apology from Tiberius was unusual and she didn't know how to react to that kind of situation, but she didn't want him to worry about it. "You just put me back in line again." She tried to sound natural, but it wasn't very convincing.

He still felt awful about it, but didn't add another word. It was already hard enough to say he was sorry.

Shepard came out from the elevator with her armor ready, with the turian and asari right behind her.

"What's wrong?" Asked Katlyn when she noticed the hurry.

The Commander grabbed her weapons quickly before getting into the shuttle.

"The Citadel is under attack" She said entering the shuttle, "We need to move fast!"

The woman didn't think twice. Neither did Tiberius.


	3. Chapter 3

He finally managed to take down the atlas, but focusing all his attacks on one single target put him in a clear disadvantage. His attention was far from those Cerberus soldiers anyway. His mind imagined that slim figure with brown hair fighting against who-knows-what, making him feel anxious. He cursed to himself when he noticed more soldiers coming down from a shuttle. At that pace, there was no way he would pass their defenses anytime soon.

How did things end up like that on the first place? He should never have agreed to let Katlyn go alone with Shepard. His friend was a capable soldier. Even if she wasn't too good at close combat, she did wonderful at long distances. He was used to be the one attacking on the first line while she covered his back, but he wasn't sure if the Commander would keep the same strategy in mind. He was used to be her only companion, so it was weird and scary to think about someone else trying to keep her rhythm. What if Shepard didn't get her capabilities and Katlyn ended up forced to handle close combat? It was killing him. When did he become such a softie? Damn, he was getting old.

He didn't notice how distracted he had been until he heard a shot right beside him, and when he turned over he got surprised to see an enemy soldier falling to his feet. He looked at the direction where the shot came from and he noticed another turian standing there, a few meters away. Vakarian.

It was a lot easier to bring enemies down with some help. Getting used to the other turian's technique wasn't hard at all, especially because he seemed to have the same strategy Katlyn had, shooting from the distance. And he would give him that, the kid had a damn good aim. He finally shot the last enemy on the head and they met in the door.

"Where is she?" Tiberius asked anxiously. The other turian didn't seem much calmer.

"Followed Shepard after some kind of… Ninja. Hurry, we need to catch up with them before they find more trouble." He said clearly eager to get there. Tiberius was a little surprised by that sudden change of attitude, all the previous suspicion and hostility back on the ship seemed to be in second plane now. He wouldn't complain though, he just wanted to get to Katlyn as soon as possible.

"Lead the way." He said getting his rifle ready. No more Cerberus soldiers would slow him down.

-o-

The four of them came out of the Normandy and landed on the Citadel. It was a chaos, and they hurried forward to keep the situation under control.

"I need you to hold this location until we check the counselor's office" said the Commander to Garrus and Tiberius once they got further, "Toombs, cover my back." Added almost immediately, not giving anyone much of a choice.

Katlyn looked at her turian friend and she could see he wasn't happy with those orders, but she couldn't tell if it was the fact of them being separated or just taking orders from Shepard. However, her previous years on the military took the best of her and she ended up nodding and following the Commander's orders, but not before giving one last reassuring look to Tiberius. She could swear that the other turian, Vakarian, didn't seem very happy with his role either.

They got into the office and Shepard started inspecting it. She heard the Commander notify that the counselor was alive, and the next second, everything was a chaos. Shepard shot the glass and jumped to apparently fight someone who was trying to kill the counselor, and right behind her, a huge explosion was heard, filling the office with smoke. She felt the urge to go back and verify Tiberius was alright, but she knew she had to cover Shepard's back. The counselor's life was the priority on that moment… Or that's what her training back on the Alliance made her think.

"Tiberius?" She asked on the radio, but it wasn't working. She froze for a few seconds, and just when she was about to move, she heard a voice a little far from there.

"Shepard!"

It was Vakarian.

"Are you two alright?" she asked anxiously.

"Fine, where's Shepard?" Garrus hurried to ask.

"She went after a ninja guy!" She said a lot calmer now. Tiberius was fine, and she could trust him the task of keeping Cerberus off their backs, "We'll handle it, just hang in there!" She said getting away from the door and running to the window to follow the Commander.

She saw Shepard pointing her gun directly to that mysterious person, and the counselor right on the middle of them. Damn, things seemed to be bad. She took her sniper rifle and pointed it directly at his head, making the assassin focus his attention on her for a second. Just in that moment, a drell appeared at his side and started fighting him. Everything happened so quickly on the next minutes that the next thing she realized was that she was now on the top of the Presidium, pointing her gun at an Alliance woman who was trying to ´protect the counsel´ while Shepard tried to convince her that Udina was corrupted. That was crazy. Unfortunately, things didn't get any easier when Garrus and Tiberius got there.

"I see no Cerberus soldiers behind that door" Said the black haired woman when she saw both turians getting there. Garrus pointed back at her fiercely.

"Don't make me do this, Ash" Said the human Commander, but Katlyn noticed on the other woman's expression that she had already made her mind. A shot was heard and Ashley fell to the ground. Garrus lowered his weapon and immediately and Shepard put Udina down.

"Goddammit, Ash, he was with Cerberus" Said the Commander in a frustrated tone.

"So were you…" Ashley moved with difficulty on the ground, "I hope the Reapers send you to hell"

She stood there, staring at the scene feeling a little out of the water. But at least now it was over. C-Sec arrived at the place and secured the counsel while Shepard hurried to Huerta Memorial Hospital, probably to see her wounded drell friend. She walked to Tiberius, relieved to see he was fine.

"There's no way we will do that again" said the turian, and the woman couldn't help to smile a little.

"It wasn't so bad, was it? You and Vakarian seem to make a pretty good team, you reached us very fast" She said walking at his side. C-Sec was focused on other stuff right now, but they didn't need to tempt their luck.

"It may have not been fast enough" He answered in a serious tone.

"It was fine. You know, I got training on the military too"

"Yeah… I think nobody told your muscles" He mocked and she pushed his arm softly, laughing a little. It was weird to see Tiberius smiling or getting relaxed, so she really enjoyed that kind of moments. Revenge was on their heads most of the time, that's what they had chosen for themselves. But it was nice to remember they were still alive sometimes, that they could still laugh, enjoy a few simple things.

She closed her eyes, trying to take those thoughts out of her mind. That was exactly the kind of attitude she didn't need. Having second thoughts about her decision could cost her her life, or Tiberius's.

They were already back on the apartment when she received a message on her omni-tool. It was Shepard's. She would be lying if she said she wasn't expecting it. The Commander was asking her and Tiberius to join her crew. And she wanted to, but she was too afraid of doing it for the wrong reasons. That last mission woke up something inside her, something she thought she lost long ago, right after the Alliance's betrayal. Fighting right beside her old hero filled her with satisfaction. She connected with those old habits of doing the right thing, being part of a team that fights for the people. But how could she rely on them when they shamelessly lied to her face? And on the top of that, they didn't even try to find those bastards. Damn, it was complicated. It was so hard to see things objectively when it was about herself.

"What are you staring at?" Asked the turian, who was organizing the ammo they had left. She looked at him kind of troubled. There was another reason. There was no way Tiberius would accept joining Shepard.

"Shepard sent me a message" She said putting her omni-tool away, "She wants us to join her crew"

"Yeah, I imagined so. Probably trying to gather a strong team against the Reapers" he said without stopping what he was doing, "We should probably do it."

"What?" She asked totally shocked. She would've anticipated any answer but that one.

"She has a ship, she has contacts, she is mostly immune to the law and she has resources. You two have a history that she probably won't ignore, we could totally use that. And the most important of all, Cerberus seems to have a special interest on her activities."

"You're aware that we will be taking orders from her, right? What made you change your mind?" she asked kind of surprised even then. He had good points, but he was so stubborn that it was still hard to believe.

"Back on the Normandy… You were right. We're running out of time. I still don't entirely trust her, but she's our best shot right now" he said staring at her seriously, "We're not letting him get away."

Of course, he was right. But a part of her wished that he had totally refused that offer. That way it would have been a little easier to make up her mind.

"Hey" He sat right next to her, making her notice she had gone suddenly silent. "Don't think too hard on this, Kat. We're joining Shepard, not the Alliance"

She looked at him thinking that it was kind of unfair that he was able to see through her so clearly, but she nodded. What he said wasn't entirely true, but somehow, it made her feel better.

"They say wisdom come with age" She mocked.

"I guess so" He said with a little smile, and then stood up to mess up her hair in a careless stroke, "Grab your gear kid, we're moving in five" He said kind of amused. She tried to get her hair back to normal as she stood up too.

"Enjoy your last minutes of ordering around. We will see who laughs later" She answered helping him to get everything together. Yeah, things would probably change from now on.


	4. Chapter 4

Being aboard the Normandy was a strange experience. They had been there for a few hours before, but now, to actually live there… Well, they would get used to it. Hopefully.

Katlyn was sitting on the couch, looking outside the window of Port Observation room. She felt a little guilty for taking that room while Tiberius decided to stay on the Live Support Control room. It was dark and uncomfortable, but he actually seemed at ease with it. It was a little strange not to share room with him anymore, but she was getting used to it.

It had been weeks since they joined Shepard, and they still hadn't gone on a mission with her. It was normal, of course. Katlyn knew the Commander would probably feel a lot more comfortable with her friends covering her back, it wasn't that the reason why she was worried. It was the lack of news from Cerberus what was starting to make her impatient.

She stood up and got closer to the window. It was so peaceful; nothing like the last years she had lived with Tiberius. She had been a little skeptical at the beginning, but being there was actually really pleasing… Ignoring all those political incidents with the geth and quarians, of course. Shepard surely was something else. An AI handling the ship and now an alliance with a whole race of VI. She had nothing against machines, she was actually pretty open minded with that topic. But that was getting things to another level.

The doors opened and she turned over it to see who it was.

"How are you getting used to the room?" Asked the red haired woman, walking towards the couch. Katlyn smiled to her.

"It's not bad. I can't complain about having a whole bar for myself" She joked making Shepard smile as well.

"Then we could start giving it a good use for a change" she answered going towards it. She served two glasses and then sat on the couch, giving one of them to her friend.

"So… Are the quarians still trying to dissect your geth friend?" asked Katlyn with curiosity. She had overheard some quarians discussing about it, and she even heard one of them -who seemed especially obsessed with the idea- complaining against the Commander for forbidding it. She had never been especially fond of quarians.

"Yeah… Admiral Xen is quite persistent" she said looking kind of tired, "But Tali is trying to keep the peace. Most of the time."

"That is actually kind of interesting" said the woman getting a little more comfortable, "How did you end up with so many aliens on the ship? This is an Alliance vessel, isn't it?" It wasn't like it was forbidden to have aliens on a human ship, but it was unusual. And quite intriguing.

"Well, that's a long story" said the Commander drinking a little, "But at first, it was mostly having similar goals. Then the bonds appeared, and they started giving me their support" she explained, looking a little thoughtful.

"Yeah, you always had the makings of a leader" she answered remembering those old days.

"What about you? How did you end up with a turian following your steps?"

"Oh, believe me, is not like that" she said moving her head, "But I guess it was the same as you. Similar goals"

"I'm curious to know what made him get so obsessed about hunting them down" said Shepard now actually interested on it. But the younger woman smiled with a little guilt.

"I'm sorry. I think that's not up to me to tell" she said feeling a little uncomfortable. She didn't want to sound distant, but that felt too much like violating Tiberius's privacy, and she wasn't going to do it.

"Well, can you at least tell me how you two met?" added the Commander, leaning a little towards the back, like she was waiting for a great story.

"Why not?" said Katlyn, putting her glass aside. She hadn't even given it a sip, she wasn't much of a drinker "It happened a few years ago, in the Citadel. I was there chasing Hogsed and… Well, he was there to kill me" she ended up with an amused smile, "And I must add, he almost did"

"That sounds like a crazy way to start an alliance" said the Commander in a mocking way.

She noticed Katlyn had been getting a lot softer since she joined the Normandy, it seemed like that shell she had put herself into was slowly starting to disappear. But talking about Tiberius always put a special sparkle in her eyes. It almost reminded her of that little girl who was always helping people with an idealistic smile.

"Oh I have seen stranger situations" she assured, "I guess the good part is that I already know his bad side"

"That sounds like a story I would like to hear in detail" said the woman smiling a little, but starting to change her tone, "But there was actually something I would like to ask you"

Katlyn looked at her intrigued and also a little scared. That seemed important.

"Sure" she answered wanting to hear it soon. She didn't like waiting. Shepard put her glass aside as well and then leaned towards her knees.

"There is an important task I must accomplish. A dangerous one. And I would like you to go with me"

The younger woman got a little puzzled for the formalities all that sudden. Wasn't that normal to ask? If they were there it was because they had agreed to face dangerous situations. And actually, after two weeks of doing nothing, being on a mission was very a welcomed change.

"Of course, Shepard. That's what we signed in for after all" She answered without hiding her surprise.

"Yeah, you're right" answered the Commander in a strange tone. That was kind of suspicious, but it didn't take her long to keep talking, "We will be heading there a few days from now. I will tell you the details later, but basically, I need your aim. You and Garrus will be covering my back"

When the fact hit her, she felt kind of stupid. She hadn't considered that she would be going to that mission without her partner. She was so used to consider Tiberius and her like a unit that some part of her thought both of them would be doing that task.

"Alright" she answered anyway, trying to keep those thoughts for herself. Shepard gave her one last smile before heading out the room. That had been weird. She hadn't seen Shepard requesting other crew members to join her like that. She wondered if that mission was really that dangerous.

She decided to stop thinking about it and finally get some sleep.

-o-

The next two days passed without any novelty. Katlyn had been visiting Tiberius a lot since they didn't have anything really useful to do, and she was dying to keep her mind busy. She had gotten so used to be always planning their next steps or selling what they found on the facilities that remaining inactive was almost unbearable. She got out of her room that day looking for Shepard, thinking about begging her to give her a task. But the Commander was nowhere to be found. She surely had a bad timing for disappearing.

Katlyn tried to remember who used to be in charge when Shepard was gone. The pilot, maybe? She had never talked to him before. The AI? Suddenly, her most frequent squad popped into her mind. The asari, Liara seemed like someone who knew what she was doing. Nonetheless, the turian seemed a lot closer to Shepard. The red haired woman wasn't very reticent to show that. Well, she wouldn't lose anything by trying.

She walked to the place where the turian used to be and the doors of the Main Battery got opened.

The turian seemed lost in his thoughts, leaning towards the keyboard, but not pressing anything.

"Hey" she said to make him notice her presence, and she couldn't help to feel guilty when he startled a bit, "I'm sorry" she apologized immediately "I was looking for Shepard, but it looks like she's gone for a while"

"Its fine" he said regaining his composure right away, "Do you need something?"

"Well… Yes, I've seen everyone has a task here on the ship… Besides, you know… Killing Reapers" She said moving a little, feeling weird, "I was thinking I could contribute as well"

The turian seemed a little surprised. And uncomfortable.

"Well, I'm afraid I'm not the right guy to ask" he answered finally turning over to face her, "I'm not in charge"

She smiled when she realized he was that kind of guy. Playing dumb when he was actually more aware than anyone about the things going on around him. Just like Tiberius. She wondered if that was a turian thing.

"Well, that's not what it seems from here" she said putting her thoughts into words, "You are the person Shepard runs to every time she need an advise. Unless there's another Garrus on the ship I don't know about" she joked with a friendly smile.

He seemed both surprised and ashamed of that sudden declaration. He definitely wasn't expecting her to bring something like that up. He cleared his throat before talking again.

"EDI, is there anything Toombs can help with on the ship?" he asked and the AI didn't take long to answer.

"Lieutenant Vega could probably use some help calibrating guns and fixing armors on the Shuttle Bay. But I'm not sure he will agree"

"Oh I'm sure he will" he said a little amused, "Thanks, EDI" he looked at the human one last time, "There you go"

"Shuttle bay, got it" she turned to the door to leave, happy to have a task. "Thank you" she said right before leaving the Main Battery to head to Tiberius's room. She wasn't sure he would agree to go down with her, but she didn't lose anything by trying.

Garrus, on the other hand, was kind of intriguing. He definitely acted strange when the matters were related to Shepard, and he became so clumsy every time she mentioned the Commander that she couldn't believe he was the same guy giving orders and killing Reapers. It seemed like everyone had a soft spot after all. The Commander had strange preferences, but who was her to judge.

-o-

"No"

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean you're not going alone" he said in a harsh tone, "This is just too suspicious. It could be dangerous"

"Of course it's dangerous, we're at war" she said trying to understand what was he thinking this time, but she was starting to get impatient, "Besides, is not up to you anymore"

"You didn't even try to say no, did you?"

"Of course not, why would I?" Katlyn said, now really puzzled. She was used to work with him as well, but it really wasn't a big deal, it was just a mission. She hated to feel lost with his reasoning, every time she thought she was starting to understand him, he did something like this. She was usually good at reading people, but somehow, that didn't work with Tiberius at all.

"Because we have more important things to think about. If you get injured…"

"Tiberius, it's going to be fine" she said losing her patience. He had never been reluctant to dangerous situations before, so it was an unusual behavior, "I'm not going to jeopardize our mission" she said in the end, leaving the room. He could at least make up his mind before he started demanding things from her like that. A week ago he was all ´Shepard can break the law´, ´Shepard has resources´, and now he couldn't believe she had agreed to go on a mission alone with her.

She walked to her room to get her stuff ready and 15 minutes later she was already on her way to the Shuttle Bay. She thought it was weird that Tiberius didn't show up trying to stop her; he was stubborn as hell, and when an idea popped into his mind, nobody could talk him out of it. But it didn't take long before she could understand the reason.

Garrus and Shepard were getting their stuff ready near the shuttle when she noticed her turian friend a few meters away.

"Tiberius, I'm going" she said before he could say anything, but he didn't look like he wanted to argue this time.

"I know. I'm going too" he answered, getting a perplexed expression from her. She looked at Shepard, but the Commander didn't look like she had something to say about it.

"Alright everyone, get to the shuttle" she said and the team started moving immediately. Katlyn had a lot of things on her mind, but she kept it to herself for the moment and followed the Commander's lead.

The trip was extremely silent, and she only talked to ask Shepard a question about the strategy they would be using. The Commander explained that Tiberius would stay on the shuttle in case they needed backup and got once again surprised when he didn't try to argue. It was probably some kind of deal he had made with Shepard so she allowed him to go.

The shuttle got to the location and the three of them got out. He noticed Tiberius was looking at her, but she didn't look back at him. She knew she didn't have any real reasons to feel hurt by his behavior, but it felt like he was there just to keep an eye on her, make sure she didn't screw up. It was understandable, he took this matter very seriously, but it was still kind of offensive that he didn't trust her enough.

The place they ended up on was an old building. It was huge and totally abandoned. Or that's how it looked like. They walked towards it carefully and they started going upstairs. They were on the eight floor when Katlyn started to get tired, but fortunately, it looked like they finally made it to the location.

"See that place downstairs? It's filled by mechs. As long as I put a foot in there, they will start attacking" Explained Shepard once they got close to some kind of platform, "I will have some blind spots down there, and I don't know how many mechs will appear. You two are the best shots I know, and I can trust you two with my life"

Garrus nodded decided, but Katlyn felt totally nervous. Damn it, Shepard, putting a pressure like that on her shoulders wasn't exactly the way she liked to be motivated.

"As soon as I make it to the next room, I need you two to go back. The mechs won't be able to reach me, and they will start following you instead"

"Alright, got it" said the younger woman, understanding the plan.

"We'll meet you at the other side" added Garrus as Shepard walked away.

Katlyn and Garrus took their sniper rifles out and got in position to be ready when Shepard got to the place.

The woman's heart was racing fast and that made her feel mad with herself. She was nervous as hell and things could end up really bad for them because of that. Doubts didn't want to leave her head, what if there were too many mechs? What if she failed? She could be such a coward sometimes. How was she planning on taking revenge if she couldn't even handle something like that?

"Calm down" she heard the turian on her side, taking her out of her thoughts.

"What?" she asked kind of confused.

"I can hear your breathing from here" he said and she felt kind of embarrassed. She didn't notice she had been so evident. She sighed and tried to relax. "She put faith in you for a reason. She's not usually wrong with people" he added.

"Yeah, that doesn't help" she answered, and she could have sworn that he had an amused expression on his face.

"You will be fine. I've seen you shoot" he said and she felt grateful. But she really wanted to talk about something else. Shepard was taking her time on getting to the place, and that only made things worse.

"So what were you doing before joining Shepard?" she asked desperately trying to get distracted. He seemed to notice her intentions fast, because he didn't seem reluctant to small talk.

"I was working at C-Sec"

"Really? You don't seem like the C-Sec type" she said looking through her scope. Nothing yet.

"Yeah well, I'm not" he answered, "I was a disaster" he was clearly annoyed by the thought.

"How did you end up with Shepard?" she asked now actually curious. The talk was working.

"She was chasing Saren, and so was I. I couldn't let the opportunity go"

"Ah, right, the rouge specter" she said remembering those days. Just a couple of months before she knew about her brother and met Tiberius. She used to think all turians were crazy back then. Well, Tiberius didn't do much to discard that theory, but at least now it was crazy in a good way.

"I'm curious to know how did you end up with a rouge General of the turian military" he said in a strange tone, making her look at him surprised. She knew turians were very aware of important titles among their military, but it seemed like there was more to it. "Eyes ahead" he added and she obeyed, noticing she was leaving her task.

"You've been doing some background check, huh" She said looking through her scope. Still nothing.

"Not really. It wasn't hard to recognize him" he answered, and she knew he was waiting for her to say something about it. But the truth was that she didn't know if it was the right thing to do. She trusted Shepard, and Shepard trusted Vakarian. But things were still… Complicated. "It's fine, it's none of my business anyway. I won't lie, it sound suspicious, but I've got assassins and krogan mercenaries covering my back, so when it comes to teammates…"

"Wait, krogan mercenaries?" she asked totally intrigued. Shepard mentioned her squad mates had volunteered, but a krogan?

"Yeah, that's a long story" he said and then got totally serious, "She's already there"

She looked at her front and she could see Shepard taking cover behind a crate. The anxiety had faded away for a while, but it all came back when the woman gave the first step and all the defense mechanisms got activated.

A turret turned on and pointed at the Commander, but Garrus reacted quickly and used overload on it, making it explode. They started taking out the mechs one by one, taking special care of those who got closer to the red haired woman. It was getting hard, even if only a few seconds had passed since the woman triggered the alarm. It seemed like every moment it got more and more filled by mechs. Garrus had to leave his task frequently to use overload on the turrets, and that only made everything more complicated.

After what seemed like ages, Shepard finally managed to get to the other side. The doors of the room closed behind her and Katlyn sighed in relieve, even when all the mechs downstairs started focusing on them.

"We better move" he said and she nodded, putting her sniper rifle away. She felt so happy that things went okay with Shepard that she didn't even really worry when new mechs started getting in their way. It was nothing they couldn't handle. Garrus took his assault rifle out and she did the same with her pistol. They were about to get to the third floor when something strange happened.

" _I heard shooting over there_ " they heard a new voice a couple of meters away and both hid right away. There wasn't supposed to be other people in there.

"Cerberus" she said when she managed to see a soldier walking towards their direction. Damn it, what the hell were they doing there?

"They always have to make things more complicated" said the turian looking at the numerous amount of Cerberus soldiers that were now near their location. They were about to engage when a huge metallic thing appeared, making a strong sound. An Atlas? Really?

"We should find out what they want" she said taking a look again.

"Getting to the shuttle is our first priority. We need to meet Shepard soon" he said with a decided look. She didn't exactly agree with him, but it made sense. It was just hard to leave the old habits aside.

"Alright… So what's your plan?" she asked trying to focus on escaping instead of fighting. But just when the turian was about to say something, a huge explosion interrupted, sending her flying away.


	5. Chapter 5

She stood up of the ground after she stopped seeing everything blurry, but it was hard to keep her balance with a whistle on her ears. She finally managed to stabilize her condition and gave a few steps forward.

"Vakarian?" she asked, but she only got shot in response. She shot back to the figure and an enemy soldier fell down. She would probably have to avoid to do that if she didn't want to end up shooting her squad mate by accident. She moved again searching for him, but she had to hide when she saw the huge machine just in front of her. The Atlas started shooting on her direction, but fortunately her cover was strong enough to resist it. Damn.

"Enemies!" screamed a soldier, and a lot more gunshots joined the Atlas. The situation was bad, especially because she couldn't see a thing and there were no signs of Garrus. An enemy got dangerously close to her, forcing her to change her position. But it wasn't easy with an Atlas aiming directly at her. It shoot at her until her shields were down, and just when she was about to reach another safe spot, she got a shot on her shoulder. The piercing pain ran through her entire body, but she didn't make a sound. It was so distracting that she could barely see another soldier getting close to her, but someone shot him before he could see her.

"How bad?" asked a known voice, but not the one she was expecting.

"Not so bad. I just need medigel" she answered trying to reach the medicine, but Tiberius did it faster. He took it out and searched the wound, getting tense when he noticed where it was.

"Damn it, Toombs, this definitely isn't what I would call ´not so bad´" he said angrily while healing the wound. She groaned in pain, but the relieve was almost instantaneous, "I knew you shouldn't have come"

"Jeez, Tiberius, I just got shot at, I'm not going to die and I'm not going to ruin everything we've accomplished" She said pissed as well, raising her tone.

"Shit, Katlyn, what the hell are you talking about?" he asked now altered as well. The situation was less than ideal to that kind of conversation.

"You don't trust me!" she finally admitted, showing the resentment in her voice, "I know this is important to you, but if I get hurt or not won't really affect your mission that much" she said feeling the burden less heavy. She had been thinking that for some time, and finally getting it out of her chest felt well.

Tiberius stared at her with a puzzled expression.

"You are just hopeless" he said in a skeptical tone, "This is not about the mission, Kat. We are friends, aren't we? I don't want you to get hurt because I care about you. You are really slow for someone who is supposed to have a trait with people" he ended up, and she looked at him with a sad expression.

That made sense, and yet he was right. Why was it so hard for her to see? He had been so into his revenge that she couldn't picture him giving importance to anything else. But maybe even after those three years, she didn't know him as well as she thought she did.

"I'm sorry" she said in the end, looking directly at his eyes with a repentant expression.

He couldn't keep staring at her without feeling something weird inside. He looked away before talking back, "Don't be" he said and then grabbed her arm, "Come, let's move before those things find us"

She didn't dare to argue. They were still in a complicated situation, and get to the shuttle would be a pain in the ass.

They moved quickly but carefully, avoiding to be seen by the soldiers and the machines, but it was hard. She was surprised by the turian's ability to guide her through the smoke, she couldn't see a thing and her eyes hurt. They managed to get to a place where smoke wasn't so dense and they could move without running into an enemy on every step. But just when they were about to head to the shuttle's direction, the woman saw the other turian fighting a couple of meters ahead. The path was totally blocked by mechs and soldiers, it was going to be hard to get to him. She stood there thinking what to do for a few seconds and Garrus didn't take long to notice her presence.

"Get to the shuttle!" he screamed and then took cover in another position. Obeying that order would be like signing his death sentence.

"We have to help him" she said looking at her friend. He seemed to think that as well, but he was hesitating. It was understandable, the situation was complicated.

"You're wounded" he said.

"We can't just leave him" she insisted. Tiberius took a look at the situation again and then he grabbed the woman to put her behind a wall.

"Alright. Wait here" he said, but she hurried to answer back.

"You need help" she said standing up again, but he grabbed her shoulders and put her back on her previous position.

"Listen to me, we're going to do this, but we're doing it my way" he said in an imperative tone, making her feel shivers on her back. She didn't always agree with him, but it was hard to oppose when he spoke that way.

"Alright, but if something goes wrong I will shoot from here" she accepted in the end and he nodded, aware that he wasn't going to get anything better. She took position while the turian started clearing his way to Vakarian. The younger turian didn't seem exactly happy about them disobeying his instructions, but he got out of cover to shoot as well. Fortunately, things were easier than she thought, and in a few minutes they were both arriving to her position.

"I told you to leave" said Vakarian when they were all together.

"Yeah, well, you're not the one giving the orders here" said Tiberius completely ignoring the other turian's murderous look. She decided not to intervene and the three of them started moving.

They finally made it to the shuttle, and they set course to the other side of the building in no time. Garrus stood near Cortez with an anxious demeanor and stared at the keyboard, lost on his thoughts. They were only a few minutes away, but she could understand his worries.

"She's fine. It's Shepard after all" she said trying to calm him a little. After all, he had done the same thing for her before.

"You should've gone without me" he said and Tiberius looked like he was about to start an argument, but she talked first.

"Don't be selfish. I would've been the one looking at the Commander in the eyes and telling her that we left you behind" she said in a strangely calmed tone, but it seemed to fulfill the objective, because Garrus didn't add a single word.

They finally made it to the next location and Garrus hurried to get out of the shuttle when he noticed the place was filled with more Cerberus soldiers. That was definitely not part of the plan.

"Shepard?" asked Vakarian, but he got no response.

"We'll handle it" said Tiberius to the woman, and this time, she really didn't feel like debating. Not that she felt comfortable with staying behind, but she felt that she owed him at least that.

"Be careful" she said and she could tell by his surprised expression that he wasn't expecting her to agree so quickly, but he didn't waste his time and went after Garrus.

She leaned towards the wall of the shuttle and closed her eyes, feeling the piercing pain on her shoulder again. Now that the adrenaline was gone, she couldn't help to feel it.

"Are you alright?" asked the pilot of the shuttle, Cortez.

"Yeah" she answered distracted. She was still a little surprised by the turian's recent behavior. Was she really that blind? They had been together for years, and in all that time she didn't notice how much he had changed. When they first met he was so cold and distant, nothing seemed to matter to him. Not that she blamed him, she could understand his feelings. Filled by hate and loneliness, the wish of revenge was pretty much all they had. They only started working together to achieve a goal. She didn't notice the moment when they started creating a bond and caring about each other. It was stupid not to realize it before. She had the wrong idea of their relationship, and that made her feel embarrassed.

She didn't know how many minutes she had been thinking about that, but the thoughts faded away when she saw both turians getting into the shuttle, followed by the Commander.

"Go, Cortez!" she said in a hurry, and the shuttle shook violently before they were finally out of there. The Commander sat beside Katlyn, trying to catch her breath, "You okay?" she asked looking at the wound. The younger woman nodded in response.

"I'm fine. I'm glad you made it out safely"

She didn't fully understand what they needed from that place, but she didn't feel on the position to ask. Not that she cared too much about it anyway, she knew the mission was a success, and that was enough to keep her satisfied.

-o-

"So what's with turians? First the Commander, then the hot doctor of the military and now an ex-soldier of the Alliance" Said James grabbing a new gun to start calibrating it.

"I have no idea of who you're talking about, but you I'm sure you have the wrong idea, Vega" answered the woman with a patient tone. She didn't know how the conversation ended up in that topic, and she had to admit that in other situation it would be very uncomfortable. But she couldn't take seriously a comment coming from Vega. That guy had a funny mind.

"Really?" he said ironically, giving Cortez a knowing look, "How old is he anyway?"

"I don't know, 40? 45? I never really asked him. Why don't you go talk to him if you're so curious?"

"Careful, Vega, you're going to end up with a black eye" mocked Cortez, making the Lieutenant smile.

Katlyn had been working in that place almost for a week. It helped her keep mind busy, and she had to admit that those two were fun to be around. Especially when they started arguing about mechanics and things she had no idea about, only to ask for her final verdict. She offered Tiberius to join her as well, but just as she thought, he had no intentions on fixing armors down on the Shuttle Bay.

"Alright, alright. I won't ask" he said finally giving up and making the woman smile a little. But just when he was about to say something else, they heard the doors of the elevator getting opened. She felt surprised to see Tiberius.

"Hey" he said in a strangely shy tone.

"Hey" she answered leaving what she was doing to walk to him, "Is something wrong?" she asked a little worried.

"No. I just wanted to talk. Are you busy?"

"I was just cleaning that gun" she said looking at James, "But as Vega nicely pointed at a few minutes ago, he would probably do a better job, right?" she continued in a sarcastic way.

"Whatever you say" answered James and the woman walked towards the elevator with the turian. "And she says I have the wrong idea" he said to Cortez once they had left the room.

-o-

 _"_ _Can I go with you?" asked a turian of very young age with sparky eyes. The adult caressed the top of his head carelessly before answering._

 _"_ _If you come, who's going to take care of your sister?" he asked faking a serious tone. The kid seemed a little disappointed, but he hurried to ask again with new hopes._

 _"_ _Then can you teach me how to shoot?"_

 _"_ _Well, maybe" he said smiling helplessly this time, "Be good and we'll negotiate it when I'm back"_

 _"_ _You always say that" he said sighing with resignation, but then hugged the older turian, "Come back soon, dad"_

 _"_ _Yeah" he said hugging him back, "I'll be back in no time, so you better be prepared"_

Tiberius opened his eyes with a piercing pain on his chest. The dream left him with a bitter feeling, even breathing became suddenly hard. It had been some time since he stopped having nightmares about his family every single day, but they never completely disappeared, and they didn't become easier to handle with time.

He sat on the couch, noticing he was on Katlyn's room. She had fallen asleep as well, right next to him. He remembered how he had summoned her to talk a few hours ago, and how they ended up chatting all night. It had been some time since the last time they did that. He had been feeling especially affected lately, but talking to her always made him feel a little better. Even years ago, on those days where he thought there was nothing that could ease that terrible pain, she managed to do it. She had entered on his life with a perfect timing. He had been thinking that revenge was the only thing that kept him breathing, and maybe he was right. But feeling alive… It was all because of her. Having someone to rely on, someone to trust and protect after losing everything he cared about.

He grabbed his head with his hands, feeling uneasy. He had considered walking away so many times, abandoning the path filled by hate he had chosen to follow, but he couldn't. Every time he started softening and opening his heart to a new possibility, those dreams haunted him, making him remember what he had to do. Something he couldn't just run away from, something no one else could do for him. His family died because of him, and that was why he didn't have the right to have a normal life, much less a happy one. They didn't. He wouldn't.

"What time is it?" he heard at his side, and he looked at the woman who was just waking up. She was pretty close to him, but she didn't seem uncomfortable with the proximity.

"It will be sunrise soon" he said trying to leave the memories of the dream behind, "I don't think you will be able to see it, though"

She smiled in a weak way and rubbed her eyes a little. "Are you feeling alright?" she asked softly. She knew there was something wrong with him.

He took some time to answer and she noticed how his mandibles moved softly, starting to get relaxed. "Yeah" he said in the end, but he continued to avoid her gaze, "I should probably leave"

"You don't have to" she said in an attempt to change his mind. But he was still not looking at her, and that wasn't a good sign. She moved a little and leaned her head on his shoulder to stare at the window in silence. He felt like he froze, completely unable to move from his position. He even felt kind of scared to breathe too hard.

It was weird, they never had more physical contact than necessary, but it also felt incredibly comfortable. He had a warm feeling inside and decided to finally close his eyes and go with the flow.


	6. Chapter 6

A few days passed, and he was finally getting used to the calm humming of the Normandy. He was a little puzzled by Katlyn's sudden change of attitude since the last mission, but he couldn't say he didn't like it. She was a lot more relaxed, she didn't argue as much as before and she smiled a lot more. The last thing was especially troubling, because every time she did he felt funny inside. He wasn't stupid, he knew exactly what that meant, and that was the troubling part.

She was almost 20 years younger than he was, she was from another species and the circumstances were less than ideal. Besides, she had so much to live yet. Even if she was angry and wanted revenge, she was still capable of having a normal life. She had things to offer, she was smart, kind and caring, something the world lacked of and could use for sure. She was nothing like him. He was broken. He had fallen into a deep hole, and he was dragging her with him little by little. He hadn't realized that before, or maybe he didn't really care. The only thing that he wanted was to accomplish his objective, and if she was a useful resource back then, he would use her. But things changed with time, and as tough as he thought he could be, he was starting to get dangerously attached to her. It seemed like a good idea to let her decide her fate back then. But now, maybe pushing her to something different wasn't that bad. Maybe that would be the right thing to do. Even if he felt he would totally totter without her at his side. Just imagining was incredibly weird… And painful.

Right in that moment, she was out on a mission with Shepard and Vakarian. He didn't feel happy about it, but he decided to stop being so persistent. He had found out about those inappropriate feelings now, so he was aware that his over-protective reactions were related to them. Just the thought of losing her too was almost unbearable, but that wasn't Katlyn's fault. She was the target of his thoughts, yeah, but not because she had chosen to be. It was unfair.

He walked towards the kitchen in a distracted manner. He was so immersed on his thoughts that he didn't realize there was someone else there, and he startle a bit when he heard a voice.

"Good morning" Said what sounded clearly like a feminine voice. He turned over to see the source and saw an asari sitting on the table. She was all by herself, which was odd. He didn't usually see other people alone on the Normandy's common places. Not that he visited them much, but it wasn't usual anyway.

"Hey" He said in the end, avoiding to look at her more than necessary. It was the same asari he met when he first saw Shepard, the one who also avoided an incident between him and the other turian. He hadn't seen her since that day, maybe because he barely left his room. Or maybe because she didn't go out too much either.

"Are you getting used to the ship?" She asked, and he felt uncomfortable. He wasn't on the mood of talking with a stranger, even less if he was aware that she was deliberately trying to make conversation.

"Yeah, it's fine" He said trying not to sound so rude. She was nice, and there was something about her. He didn't want to be to obvious rejecting her hospitality.

"Has Garrus been giving you any trouble?" She asked and he couldn't help to think she sounded too much like a mom. Probably who kept the diplomacy aboard the ship. It was that or she was trying to gather information. Somehow, he inclined to think the first one.

"No" He said and he forced himself to add something else, "Why, has he giving you trouble?" But he regretted it immediately. Shit, his social skills were worse than crappy. Maybe it would've been better to stay silent after all. He looked at the woman to see her reaction after hearing that stupid and senseless phrase, but on the opposite of what he thought, she was smiling amused.

"Sometimes. But it's nothing I can't handle" She mocked a little, easing the tension. He avoided her gaze again, stiffening his mandible. "Would you like to join me?" She offered and he felt once again surprised.

"I think you noticed by now I'm not the right person to have a conversation with" He admitted sincerely, but she didn't change her expression.

"I'm sure we can manage"

He stood there a few seconds more, but in the end he decided to do it. What did he have to lose? It was that or staying on his room, thinking about Katlyn and the risk she was going through in that precise moment.

Minutes passed, and he realized it wasn't so hard talking to her. She was calm, peaceful, mature and yet, pretty realistic. He never thought it would be nice talking to a stranger, the only person he had been able to have small talk with in all those years was Katlyn, of course. But he had forgotten how refreshing could be talking to someone you don't know at all. He almost smiled a couple of times. But it was impossible to totally forget about his worries. And her human friend's arrival was what ended up bringing him back to reality. He was relieved to see she was fine, but he only looked at her for a few seconds. She seemed surprised to see him there.

"Hey there. Everything alright?" She asked with a smile, but he didn't look back at her.

"Yeah" He answered and then stood up, "Excuse me" He said and then walked quickly towards his room.

Katlyn thought that was weird, but she tried not to think too much about it. But what seemed like her imagination at first, started to get more suspicious every day. He didn't visit her anymore, he constantly avoided her gaze and he even seemed reluctant to talk to her when she was the one visiting him. Something was definitely wrong, and that was starting to get her on her nerves. Did something happen? Was he hiding something from her? Did she do something wrong? She had no idea, and she couldn't help to think about it more than what was healthy.

She was on the Shuttle Bay, staring at one of the weapons distractedly. She was supposed to be calibrating it, but she wasn't paying attention at all. With Vega out on a mission with Shepard and Liara, there was no one to tell her what to do or how to do it, so she felt relaxed about it. Or at least that was what she thought.

"The gun's not going to get magically calibrated" She heard from her right, and she saw Garrus standing right next to her. She didn't notice him getting into the place at all.

"Don't tell me how to do my job" She answered in a teasing way, "I bet I could do it much faster than you if I tried" She defied, getting a sarcastic laugh from him.

"You have no idea who you're talking to" He answered with confidence, "But that wouldn't be nearly as exciting as a real fight. Sparring. What do you say?"

"Sure, why not?" She said leaving the gun on the table, "Shall we get started?"

"You're in pretty high spirits for being so tiny" He said while they walked to a clearer area.

"What are the rules?"

"Just knocking down. No real hits. I would hate to have to tell Shepard I broke you up" He mocked and she couldn't help to laugh a little this time.

"Don't underestimate me"

They started that little contest, and Garrus seemed awfully calmed for being in a competition. She tried getting close to him, but he reacted fast and almost grabbed her. Fortunately, she was quick. That was pretty much all she could use.

The pattern repeated for a few minutes, but she finally made a bad move and the turian managed to grab her shoulders and put her down with extreme ease. Well, at least now she knew there was no way she could get loose from his grab once he managed to catch her.

"Let's do it again" She said standing up. This time he grabbed her even faster than before, and she started wondering what she was doing wrong.

"You're starting to become predictable" He said giving her a hand to help her stand up, "If you only focus on my moves it will get easier for me to manipulate you. You need to get ahead of me" He instructed and she nodded eager to try.

It was a little hard, but she finally understood what the turian meant. It was difficult to predict every move the turian would make, but every fight she failed a little less, and after some time she finally managed to start fighting back. That round had been especially long, and she was starting to get tired. But she moved quickly towards his side to try to take him down, even though it was useless. He avoided her and then grabbed her waist to put her one again on the ground. She sighed tiredly, closing her eyes for a little.

"Damn, this is hard" She admitted as he helped her getting up again.

"You are making progress, though" He said and she tried to catch her breathe to start over. But just when she was about to make her first move, she felt someone grabbed her softly to put her aside.

"Do you mind if I try?" Said Tiberius in a polite tone, but she could feel the irony. He wasn't looking at her, though, and she couldn't help to feel puzzled by the situation. He was always so reluctant to social events, what changed his mind?

"N-no" She said stepping aside, and she noticed how both turians stared fiercely at each other. They got in position without saying a word.

"I noticed you were being gentle" Said the older turian, "I won't hold back, so I hope you don't do it either"

She felt shivers only to hear it. There it was, that polite tone he used a few minutes ago, though his aggressive eyes made her understand he was talking seriously. And that was kind of worrying.

"I wouldn't worry if I was you" Answered Vakarian in a hostile tone as well. They didn't wait much to start the fight

It was then when she realized Tiberius was right, Garrus was holding back before. The strength of their hits and the skill of their movements were definitely in a different level. She felt stupid now to believe that she was really getting the trick. Minutes passed, and Tiberius finally hit Garrus in a delicate spot, giving him enough time to grab him strongly from his chest and put him down.

"I said no holding back. Or that's all you can do?" He provoked, making Garrus get up quickly to keep fighting. Another long round started, but this time the results were different. The younger turian was a quick learner, and he caught Tiberius's pattern eventually, giving him the advantage. He managed to put him down this time.

A third round started, and she was getting nervous. She didn't know how tough turians were in comparison with humans, but she was pretty sure that the magnitude of those hits would even make a krogan complain.

Was it okay to let them continue? Why in hell were they fighting like they were enemies? She was about to say something when Shepard's shuttle arrived. She thought that would be enough to make them stop, but they were so divorced from reality that they didn't even look at it.

"What did you do now?" Asked James, getting close to her position.

"What?" She said surprised, "Nothing. They're just sparring… I hope" She said as Shepard and Liara got to their side. Katlyn hurried to talk to the Commander.

"Is this normal?" She said worriedly. She had been with Tiberius for a long time, yeah, but she hadn't seen him interact with another turian. She had no idea if that was alright, and the serious look on Shepard's face didn't do much to calm her down.

"So doctor, any idea of what's going on?" Whispered Vega. But Katlyn could still hear what they were saying.

"It appears to be about dominance. But I'm not entirely sure" She answered softly as well. James seemed confused.

"Why? I've never seen Scars fight another turian like this"

"Well, that's because it only happens when they're trying to claim their right over a female" She said looking at the tiny woman who was standing some meters ahead.

"What?" Asked James kind of amused, "I thought Scars had a thing for the Commander" He said trying to understand.

"He does" Answered the asari patiently, "I believe he only trying to bother Nazadus"

"So he has his badass side"

"Alright, that's enough you two" Said Shepard, making the Katlyn feel relieved. But neither of them seemed to hear what was going on around them. She expected Shepard to raise her tone, but instead, she got in the middle of the fight, grabbed Garrus and put him on the ground. It didn't take her more than a few seconds to do the same with Tiberius.

Both turians stared at her from the ground, like they finally got out of their unconsciousness. Garrus seemed too perplexed even to talk, probably feeling guilty for the expression the Commander had on her face in that moment. But Tiberius stood up almost immediately and got to the elevator.

A few moments passed before the woman decided to do something. What the hell were Vega and the doctor talking about? Dominance? She had never heard of such a thing before. She turned over the elevator and walked to it right away. She needed to talk to him, find out what was that all about.


	7. Chapter 7

Tiberius was hiding in a corner in the wards, waiting for his target. Less than a month had passed since he decided to leave the turian military. He knew they were looking for him, but he could manage to hide and get mixed with the multitude. He had already been on Omega and Illium, but he found nothing useful there. Being unnoticed on the Citadel was something completely different, but for the first time he was starting to get close to his objective. Getting information from the guards wasn't so hard to accomplish, and there was always someone willing to pay him to get rid of something. Or someone. He never thought he would end up like a mercenary, but in that moment he didn't care. He just wanted to get information, resources and get his revenge.

He got in position when he noticed something moving on the other side. It was his target. A tiny human girl, brown hair, young age. That wouldn't be too hard. He would get that over with soon and claim his money. He waited for her to get closer, but just when she was about to get on his reach, she stopped. Her eyes inspected the room quickly, and she took cover behind a wall. Did she notice his presence? He had been especially careful while hiding. He left his location to move towards her, but just when he showed himself, a gunshot passed right beside his head. Shit, his employer didn't say she would be armed. He took a smoke grenade and threw it to the ground, taking advantage of it to finally move. He tried to get closer by being careful of remaining camouflaged, and it seemed to be working, because he didn't get shot again.

He was finally able to see her again. She had a sniper rifle and she was trying to use her scope to detect him in the smoke. He took his rifle out and the woman left her task immediately to look at his direction. She had sharp senses. But instead of hiding immediately, she stared at him for a second. She didn't even try to shoot him. What the hell was she doing? He started firing and she finally hid. He did the same. That could end up being a long fight after all.

A few minutes passed since they started playing cat and mouse. Though a mouse with a sniper rifle wasn't so easy to handle as anyone would think. But she was finally losing terrain, and that had to be an advantage if she was desperately trying to put distance between them. She disappeared in a corner and he knew he had her. There was no other exit from that place, so he could finally finish that and collect his money.

He showed himself, hoping to find her right in front of him. But the woman was nowhere to be seen. He inspected the place kind of puzzled, there was nothing there she could use to hide. Where the hell did she go? He decided to look for her on the previous room, but when he was about to turn around, he felt someone falling over him from the top. Shit, he never expected something like that, humans could be dangerously unpredictable. He put her in the ground immediately with no need of much effort. He grabbed her neck and got his weapon out to finish her once and for all, but his body didn't respond. His gaze passed from her anxious gray eyes to her hand, where she had an empty syringe. Whatever she injected him, it couldn't be good.

He woke up feeling like crap. He didn't know how much time he had been out or where he was. The only thing he knew was that his arms were tied and that he had been deceived by a human. He never thought he would make the mistake of underestimating an enemy again. He inspected the place, trying to figure out where he was. It looked like some kind of apartment, but in a very bad shape. Probably the place where she was staying. She walked in front of him, keeping a safe distance. Of course, she knew that in close combat he would totally tear her apart.

"What do you know about the guy who hired you?" She asked calmly. He stared at her in silence, not showing any signs of cooperation. Not that he cared about the bastard, but he had the money. If he died, that would all be for nothing. "It doesn't need to be hard for any of us. I just need to know where he is" She insisted. Like she was going to get something from him. She looked at him for a moment and then searched for something on her pockets. If she was planning on torturing him, she was losing her time. He was used to physical pain, he wasn't afraid of it at all. But he didn't expect what he saw next.

She raised a small picture, allowing him to see it. When he identified it, he felt like he froze for a second.

"I know this must be important to you, but I really need the information" She said grabbing a lighter with the other hand. He saw the scene feeling furious, sad and terrified at the same time. That picture was the only thing he managed to get from his house before leaving in a rush. Watching it burn was the most painful thing that could happen to him in that moment.

He knew he wasn't being rational, he knew she would probably kill him as soon as he gave her what she wanted. She might even burn the picture anyway just to watch him fall apart… But his body reacted before he could even think about it.

"On the lower markets, right in front of the salarian shop" he said in the end, and he saw with relief how the woman put the lighter away.

"What do you know about him?"

"Nothing. He hired me a couple of hours ago, I don't even know his name" He said honestly. He felt defeated, but he had already surrendered to his pride the moment he decided to sell his gun and started killing people for money. There wasn't much for him to lose now.

"Alright" Answered the woman leaving the picture on the table, "I can't let you go right now, I don't want you to kill me. Those handcuffs will automatically release you a few hours from now. You will be safe here in the meantime"

He looked at her move around the room gathering things and felt a little lost. Was she really going to let him go? Did he really lost to a naïve and inexperienced human like her? He would never give his enemy an opportunity like that. And yet, he was the one handcuffed and unarmed, sitting on the ground.

"I wouldn't feel bad if I was you. You're a turian, there's no way he would have paid you even if you got the job done. That's the way Cerberus works"

He watched her get out of the room as he realized her words. Did she mean his employer was with Cerberus?

Two days passed since then, and he had barely slept. That incident was the closest he had been from information about those bastards, so he needed to find her. But it seemed like she had vanished. He had been asking everywhere for someone like her, but it was hard when the only thing he knew was how she looked like. Her brown hair didn't do much to help; it was very common among humans. Her eyes were sure something else, but it wasn't like people put much attention to that kind of details. After a lot of searching, he finally managed to get useful information. But he wasn't sure if it was truthful anyway. He decided to take his chances and followed two guys who were supposed to be after her. Finding out that so many people was trying to hunt her down was an interesting addition. She was trying to catch someone who had connections with Cerberus and she was considered a danger. That sounded too good to be true.

He managed to intercept the guys who were supposed to get to her location. They were well armed, but he couldn't tell if they were really a threat. It was hard for him to predict humans. Knocking them down and torturing them to get the information was an option, but he decided it would be easier just to follow them. He walked behind them for a few minutes and he noticed they got into a place on the lower part of the wards. He almost lost them a couple of times, but he managed to catch up with them again. They split up when they got to a room, and only one of them moved. He watched the situation curious, wondering what they were planning. The woman showed up soon enough, coming from nowhere. She pointed her pistol to the guy's head.

"Put your weapon down" She ordered with a demanding tone. But the second guy used the situation to stalk her from behind and pointed his weapon to her head as well.

"I don't think so, sweetheart" He said and she didn't move from her position, "Someone would like to talk to you"

Those two were well informed. They knew her weak points, they knew she wouldn't kill them right away. And they took advantage from it. The turian got out of cover and pointed his weapon directly to the guy threatening her, killing him with a clean shot on his head. He shot a second time almost immediately, this time to the other guy's arm. He dropped his weapon in pain and then the turian hit his head to put him on the ground.

"Is there something you need to know from him?" He asked to the woman, who seemed more than lost with all what happened.

"N-no… Wait, what the…" She couldn't finish her phrase, because he shot to the other guy right on the head once again. The woman opened her mouth to say something, but it seemed like her voice was suddenly lost on her throat.

"We need to move. There's more people looking for you" He said putting his weapon away and waiting for her to follow him. But she didn't move.

"Why did you do that?" She finally managed to ask, getting a frustrated grunt from the turian.

"You need to ask? I don't know how you managed to keep yourself alive all this time" He said grabbing her arm to make her react, "Move" He said getting her to walk. But it didn't last long. She stopped violently when she finally snapped out.

"What the hell are you doing here anyway? How do you know all this?" She asked perplexed. She was totally clueless about the situation.

"I know because of the same reason there's people who knows about you. You can't leave witnesses alive and expect to remain safe" He explained in an obvious tone, "You've been careless. Being afraid to kill is your weakness"

"I'm not afraid to kill" She answered sharply, "I just don't think that's always the best way to proceed" She added feeling angry. Who was he to just show up and start criticizing her? What could he possibly gain from that? "You haven't told me why you are here" She insisted, now more curious than anything. She thought that if he looked for her, it would be for revenge. But that was clearly not the case.

"You said something about Cerberus. I need that information" He answered staring directly at her gray eyes, "I'm taking them down" He added in a decided tone. Once again, she seemed a little puzzled. But instead of sending him to hell or being suspicious, she nodded to him.

"Alright, follow me" She said turning over to get out of the hallway.

Just like that? That woman surely was strange. Shit, keeping her alive was going to be an odyssey.

-o-

He waited for her on her own room. He knew she would look for him anyway, and he also had something to talk to her about. That was why he went looking for her at the Shuttle Bay on the first place. Though things didn't end up like he was expecting.

Everything had gotten too far now, and he had to do something about it. That fight with the other turian could only confirm how screwed he was. Damn, he had never fought over a female before, and he was in no age for that. But he had to admit he didn't expect Vakarian to accept the challenge. Was he really interested on Katlyn? Just thinking about it made his blood burn. He wasn't being rational at all, and that was a problem. He could end up putting her life in danger, and he wouldn't allow it.

He heard footsteps getting into the room and he didn't have to turn over to see who it was.

"Why didn't you tell me you were holding a grudge on Vakarian?" She asked surprised. He didn't move from his position.

"I'm not"

"That's not what I saw down there. I don't entirely understand your reasons, but picking up a fight seems like a childish thing to do. I'm surprised"

He felt irritated by her words and finally turned over to face her. He threw her a severe look, but she didn't hold back one bit.

"Maybe you're right. This has already gone too far. Working together has proven not to be useful anymore" He said looking away again. He could never tell a lie while looking at someone's eyes and that seemed especially hard with her.

"Don't" She said walking to him, "Just don't. I know what you're trying to do, Tiberius. That's not going to work with me" He looked at her again, feeling a terrible hollow on his stomach. He was afraid to find out what she meant.

"I'm only telling you what I think"

"I haven't changed my mind. You know that" She continued, "So don't you think you're doing me some kind of favor by letting me out of this"

And as always, she was fast to understand the situation. That would only make things harder, because he wasn't going to change his mind.

"I'm sorry, Kat. I'm leaving" He said walking towards the door. But the woman stood in front of him with a defiant demeanor.

"If you want to get through that door, you will have to defeat me"

"Katlyn… I'm not going to…"

"C'mon, you fought Vakarian for a stupid grudge but you can't fight me?" She said angrily, "You want to leave me? Then man up and fight!"

He was speechless. He had never seen her so upset, until now he had never imagined capable of screaming and expressing anger like that. She was always so calm, so gentle, even with people who didn't deserve it at all. He was trying to figure her out when he noticed it. Her trembling voice, her faltering breath and her eyes, more brilliant than usual. She looked like she was about to cry. He felt terrible, and for a second thought about hugging her. But he knew that wasn't possible. Instead, he did exactly what she asked, and gave a step forward to start fighting her.

He tried to grab her, but she was quick and avoided him immediately. They tried to take each other down for a few minutes, but it wasn't easy. She had clearly improved since the last time he saw her fighting, probably with that Vakarian guy's help. But she was still in clear disadvantage with strength, so as soon as he grabbed her, she ended up on the ground. He kept pressing with both hands against her shoulders, preventing her from standing up.

"You're an idiot" She said staring directly into his eyes. She bit her lower lip in an attempt to control the tears, fighting to leave her eyes. But it was useless.

His hand went from her shoulder to her cheek, and one of his fingers interrupted the path of her tears.

"Goodbye, Kat" He said leaning towards her to kiss her forehead, and then he immediately got out of the room.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Almost two months had passed since Tiberius left the Normandy. Katlyn hadn't been the same since then, and even the people who didn't know her so well noticed the change. She started joining Shepard on missions more often and she trained with Vakarian and Vega on her free time. She seemed somehow obsessed with improving her abilities on close combat, but nobody tried to put any kind of objection to that. That day on particular, she had managed to make significant progress. The little training session finished and she walked away from the place, leaning towards the working table.

"You okay?" Asked the turian, getting closer.

"I am. Just need to catch my breath" She replied, letting go a soft sigh. Training with the turian was harder every day. Vega used to contain himself a little more, but Garrus wasn't that gentle. Probably for the best if she wanted to improve.

A few minutes passed before one of them spoke again.

"Any news from him?" Asked the turian sniper without looking at her. She was grateful for that, because her expression in that moment would have probably given her away immediately.

"No" She said curtly, though she didn't mean to sound rude. The turian and Shepard were constantly asking about Tiberius. That didn't help at all, but she could understand. Shepard was actually concerned about her, she knew they used to be very close. Garrus… He probably felt kind of guilty, even though it wasn't his fault at all. But turians were stubborn when an idea got into their minds, and she was done trying to do something about it.

"You know…" he continued after a while in silence, "He could be an ass. But I can tell he actually cared about you."

She listened to his words in silence, unsure of what to think about that. It was the first time he actually tried dig deeper into personal matters.

"Well, he shouldn't have left then" she finally let out before she was able to realize her words. A know appeared in her throat and she felt unable to add anything else. The girl had been dwelling on that for a long time, but it was the first time she said it out loud. She had been doing so well before meeting him that it didn't make any sense for her to feel so lost now that she was alone again. It was like everything was falling apart, like she was unable to get back on track.

"You got a point there. But you shouldn't allow that to drag you down." He replied, this time looking directly into her eyes, "I'm sure you'll manage" And after that, he gave a few steps forward to get back to the place where they had been practicing. "Ready for another round?"

She looked at her feet for a couple of seconds, trying to find some comfort on what the turian just said. Yeah, he was right. She had an objective, and she wouldn't let anything stand on her way.

"Sure" The brunette walked towards him with renewed energy. She wouldn't waste any more time on self pity.

That same afternoon, she talked to Shepard to let her know she had made a decision. The Commander wasn't happy to know she was planning to leave and she even tried to convince her not to do it. But Toombs had already made up her mind, and that wouldn't change easily.

Managing to move in the Citadel wasn't hard at all. She already had experience with it and she was good at hiding. Besides, she could still use a few little tricks she learnt from Tiberius. The good part was that the Citadel was now overflowing with information about Cerberus; they were making a mess everywhere. But beyond all that, what managed to catch her interest immediately, was just one name. An old contact who used to have a special reputation among the worst kind of people. So, that bastard had managed to rise again. Tiberius and her had dealt with him before, but when he became too scared of them, he just disappeared without a trace. Now, with the duo disappearing from the Citadel for more than three months, it was reasonable for that _old friend_ of them to think they were gone for good. Ha, he wished.

It didn't take her long to find his new rat hole. She waited for a couple of guys to get out of the room and then slipped inside silently. The man almost had a heart attack when he noticed her presence.

"Hello, Mike" she greeted, crossing her arms.

"Shit. What are you doing here?" he asked without even trying to hide his surprise.

"I just need some information. And now that you finally stopped hiding, I think we can get to an arangement" she said in a calmed tone, but keeping it severe enough. He didn't look exactly pleased.

"I've got thugs right outside, so you better leave now if you don't want trouble" he threatened, standing up. But she didn't back off one bit.

"You know I'm not working alone, Mike. I convinced Tiberius to spare your life once, but he's very pissed now. Do you really want him following your steps?"

He stared at her ragefully, but didn't dare to complain. The poor guy had seen what the turian was capable of, ever since he made the mistake of hireing him as a mercenary. He almost wet his pants when he realized Tiberius actually formed an alliance with his target instead of fulfilling the job. Katlyn he wasn't really a danger to anyone back then, but he used to have contact with the person they wanted.

Lamont Hogsed. He paid Mike to run a few errands in the Citadel, and any kind of information about him was worth fighting for. It took her months to get even close to Mike, but as soon as he saw her coming, he started paying mercenaries to kill her. That's when Tiberus came in.

"What do you want?" he finally asked, wanting to get that over with soon.

"You know what I want. Where is Hogsed?" she asked walking to him. He raised a hand quickly.

"Don't get any closer!" he moved to his desk without taking his eyes off her. He pressed a few buttons on his computer and then took a little device from it. "This is the last information I managed to get. But he stopped being in contact a week ago" he said putting it on the desk. She leaned towards it and grabbed it.

"You better don't try to fool me, Mike. If you do, I swear I'll find you." she warned, this time sounding much more severe. He didn't look happy with the threat.

"You've got what you wanted. Now please, leave" he asked in a bad mood and she gave him one last glance before walking away. That ended up better than she expected it to be, and it was a little suspicious. But that was the only lead she had at the moment and it was worth the risk. Even though she was aware that Hogsed would be waiting for her.

-o-

"Where did you send her?" asked the turian with increasing fury, pinning the man against the wall. Three corpulent thugs were laying on the ground with no pulse at all, and the human in front of him looked like he was about to faint.

"I… Don't know what you're talking about"

Tiberius hit him harder against the wall, making the guy groan in pain.

"Asteria… Hades Nexus" he squealed in the end, but it didn't save him from getting a strong punch in his stomach. He fell to the ground coughing as the turian pointed his weapon right to his head.

"Shit, I should just…" he said, burning in rage. But something inside prevented him from pulling the trigger. Somehow, he knew the bastard would still be useful at some point. He turned over the door before he changed his mind and hurried to the place Mike mentioned.

It was strange how he owed everything he knew to an unexpected ally. He realized before there something about the asari, but he never imagined she would end up being an information broker. Liara had access to a lot of agents, spies, plugs and cameras in the Citadel, so it wasn't hard for her to see what was going on with Katlyn. She wanted to notify Shepard as well, but right in that moment the Commander was on a mission. It didn't matter. Just the fact of knowing himself was enough. He wouldn't allow Katlyn to get hurt.

It took him hours, but he finally managed to get there. It was chaos; countless Cerberus agents were dead or agonizing. He followed the trail of dead bodies and it lead him to a hallway, filled with more dead guards. Judging by the wounds, he could guess it was mostly grenades. Very unlikely of hew, who usually put stealth over brute force. The turian kept moving, fast, checking all the rooms with his eyes until one figure made him stop. He held his gun tighter as his blood began to burn. It was him. Right in front of him.

"Hogsed" he muttered fiercely. The human was standing there, unshakable and with a little smile on his lips. It made him sick. He almost used an entire clip against the resistant glass that was separating them, even though he knew it wouldn't have any kind of effect. He just wanted to tear him apart in the most painful way he could think of.

"I have been waiting for you" the human spoke calmly once the turian finally stopped shooting. "You have been putting me in a difficult spot, General, ever since your brigade made a habit of attacking my facilities. But I thought my message was clear enough... Maybe I was mistaken." The corner of his lips went up a little, giving the turian a condescending look. He raised his right hand and two soldiers appeared, dragging a body with them, "Should I... Repeat it?"

Tiberius felt his heart stopped for a second as he recognized the tiny figure in front of him.

"I will rip your skin off your meat" He said, unable to contain his rage.

"You could attempt to do that, of course." He answered as he was talking about the weather, "Or... You could get your friend back. Who knows the terrible things this two gentleman could possibly do to her" he said, giving the retired General one last smile before walking to the foor on the left, "It's up to you".

Both soldiers carried Katlyn's unconscious body to the right, and it wasn't hard for him to realize what Hogsed was trying to do. His hate only increased when he was forced to choose. He had imagined a situation like that thousands of times, and as hard as it was, he always ended up making the same choice. Following the bastard. But reality proved to be very different from his mental simulations. He never considered he would end up caring about someone as much as he once did. But now... He was too attached. He wouldn't lose anyone else ever again.

Ignoring all his hateful emotions, he hurried to follow the soldiers' footsteps. The hallway was long, and it was filled by rooms. He inspected every door, but most of them were empty. He was starting to get impatient when he finally saw them. Katlyn was on a stretcher, and one of the soldiers was injecting something to her. He didn't think about it twice before killing them in cold blood. The turian came closer, but the girl wasn't moving at all. She was cold and her skin looked pale, but at least her chest was moving.

"Spirits, Kat, please wake up" He asked moving her softly. But the woman didn't look like she could hear any of his words. He picked up her body and got her out of the room. There was no way he was going to lose her too. Not while he kept breathing.

-o-

Saying that the next three days were hard was an understatement. They were a few of the hardest days of his life, and that was saying a lot. Katlyn was in a comatose state, unable to see or hear anything around her. She only moved a couple of times during the night, whining like she was going through some horrible pain and sometimes, breathing hard, as it took a lot of effort. Tiberius used to have nightmares where she suddenly stopped breathing and her heart stopped beating. He had abandoned any kind research during those days. He felt so hopeless, having her right in front of him and being unable to do anything to help. He didn't even know how to take proper care of her, what he should give her to eat, to drink. Especially because she was barely able to swallow.

On the third day, he carried the tray to her room as he always did, but he almost dropped it when he saw her sitting on the bed. Her big gray eyes staring at him confusedly, her face had recovered a little of the color it used to have. He put the food aside and walked to her quickly.

"Tiberius… What…?" But she wasn't able to finish her sentence. He had never hugged her before, and the warm feeling she had ended up making her fully recover the color on her cheeks. She closed her eyes and sofly laid her hands on his arms. She would lie if she said it didn't feel comforting.

"Don't you ever do that again" He said without letting her go. She was still a little lost, she couldn't exactly recall what happened. She got information from Mike and then…

"Hogsed!" She almost screamed, remembering how it all ended up. She got inside, she saw him... But she had been captured. She put on a fight for a long time, but in the end, there were just too many soldiers. "Tiberius, how did you…?"

"I went after Mike." He answered right away. "And then I got you back"

"But… Did you see him? Did he manage to…?"

"He's dead."

There was a long silence while the woman tried to make any sense of those words.

"Dead?" She asked feeling confused. That was what she had wanted, but now, hearing the news so suddenly... "Did... Did you kill him?"

"Yes."

She sighed, trying to keep herself together. "Alright" She muttered weakly. She wasn't nearly as satisfied as she thought she would be. She just felt an empty space where her joy should be, but she tried to remain rational. He was dead. It was all that mattered.

She leaned back on the bed again, her head was spinning and her whole body hurt.

"Are you ok?" He asked worriedly. She just nodded.

"I... Just need time to digest it, that's all" She answered and then opened her eyes again, "Thank you. For everything you did" She ended up with a weak smile. The turian couldn't answer back, he just felt like a piece of shit.

"You should try to rest. You have been out for three days... But it didn't really look like you had sweet dreams." The turian suggested, but she wasn't really paying attention to his words anymore. He didn't have to say it twice, though. She felt so tired and beaten up that her eyes closed as she didn't have a say on the matter.

Tiberius looked at her, finally feeling the weight of his own words. He decided to lie to her. Probably about the most important think he could think of. But it was enough. He didn't want her to end up wasting her life because of that feeling of revenge. Those three days he had plenty of time to reconsider a few things, and now... He didn't feel capable of bearing another loss.


End file.
